Twelve fearless competitors will face the wrath of the ghost pepper this evening at Southside Café’s second annual Southern Discomfort Hot Wing Challenge.

 The challenge originated from the mind of Southside cook Wil Blanchard, who said he got the idea in part from the show Man v. Food.

 “I saw him do a wing challenge and I’m like, ‘Ah, I can do better’,” Blanchard said. “Then we had a manager come in and tell me about the wings he had at Zeppos once, and he said I might have trouble trying to beat that. So that’s when I got together with Adam and we started brainstorming ideas.”

  The rules are pretty straight-forward. There is no time limit; competitors must simply finish the ten wings in front of them – including all the sauce in the bowl – without drinking any of the milk on the table. The first one to finish, no matter how long it takes, will win the competition, said Adam Koerner, executive chef at Southside.

 “The first one we did last semester was such a success we decided we’re going to do it every semester and try to make it better every time we do it,” Koerner said.

 Two students completed last year’s challenge. Blanchard and Koerner said the wings had to be hotter, which they will be this evening.

  Koerner said they have included ghost peppers in the new recipe.

 “I don’t think we’re going to go much hotter than we did on this particular batch,” he said.

 Work Area Lead Camber Steveson said the challenge’s spectators can try a wing for themselves for 50 cents.

 Koerner said he and Blanchard “have really delivered” in putting together this challenge.

“It’s not really for the meek of heart,” Blanchard said.

The Southern Discomfort Hot Wing Challenge will take place at 5 this evening in the main entrance of Southside Café.